How much do you need to retire? Just ask the students at White Pass High School.
While answers varied from as high as a billion dollars to considerably less, most agreed that one million dollars would buy them a retirement that started around their 60s. While the actual dollar amount varied, the answer is ultimately the same: Retirement costs a heck of a lot, and these students knew it.
During the Washington Business Week business and free enterprise education program at White Pass High School this week, local business professionals and educators are teaming up to teach students the skills they will need both in their personal, and professional lives. As part of the program, students had the opportunity to experience the Investor Education in Your Community program.
The investing basics presentation for teens asked students to look at retirement as something we all purchase for ourselves. When you’re young, time is on your side and compounding interest will do the work for you. You have the option to purchase that one million dollar retirement at a reduced rate of savings and let the compounding interest do most of the work for you.
Wait until you’re in your 20s, and it costs much more. Wait until you’re in your 30s, and you’ll have to save more than 10 times what it would cost you in your teens… and you still end up with one million dollars.
Students were invited to ask and answer the following question: Do you want to pay more, or less, for the retirement you will someday purchase? By the end of the presentation, many agreed that saving consistently for the future while young is not only smart, but it allows you to use more of your hard earned dollars for the things you care about while you’re young.
These students are lucky to be led by a crack team of local business professionals and educators. I had the pleasure of meeting and presenting to this group of leaders later in the day.
Discussing the most common types of investment fraud and the resources and services that the WA State Dept of Financial Institutions offers to Washingtonians, these WBW advisors learned how to identify, avoid, and report the most common types of investment fraud. Additionally, they learned about the role of the Investor Protection Trust and how unbiased, non-commercial resources are a must when it comes to safely and wisely investing.
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